Issam Abu Rukbeh, the leader of Hamas’ aerial force, was confirmed dead in an airstrike during the night by the Israel Defence Forces and Shin Bet intelligence services.
Drones, unmanned aerial vehicles, paragliders, aerial detection systems, and air defenses were all under Abu Rukbeh’s control. By guiding terrorists who entered southern Israel via paragliders and organizing drone strikes against Israel Defense Force observation posts, he contributed significantly to the preparation and execution of the October 7 attack.
The IDF declared on October 14 that Murad Abu Murad, the former commander of Hamas’s aerial forces, had been killed. Sgt Shirel Haim Pour, a 20-year-old from Rishon Lezion, was also named by the Israel Defense Forces as one of the soldiers slain in the October 7 Hamas attack. The Times of Israel claimed that after informing her family, her name was cleared for publishing. With the passing of Sgt Pour, who was a member of the Gaza Division, 311 soldiers, officers, and reservists had lost their lives in the fighting. Many skirmishes broke out between Israel Defense Forces soldiers and Hamas militants over the course of the force’s overnight ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
However, during these engagements, no soldiers were reported injured.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force struck more over 150 subterranean targets with its fighter aircraft strikes in the northern Gaza Strip tonight. “During the attack, terrorists of the terrorist organisation Hamas were eliminated and combat tunnels, underground combat spaces and other underground terrorist infrastructures were destroyed,” said the IAF in a post on X.
The IDF is still present in the Gaza Strip with tanks, soldiers, and combat engineering forces as the ground operation is ongoing. In addition, The Times of Israel claims that the IDF killed several Hamas terrorists with airstrikes that targeted about 150 underground facilities that the terrorist group exploited.
In a related development, the terrorist group known as the Houthis, which serves as an Iranian proxy in Yemen, fired a cruise missile into Israel on Friday night. Six Egyptian security officials were hurt when a rocket struck Taba in Egypt, which is near the Israeli border. This information was communicated to the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi. The first time the Houthis intended to attack Israel with missiles, an American warship foiled their plans. This is the second time they have attempted to do so. The Houthis, according to the Israeli embassy, follow a Tehran-based strategy that aims to escalate conflicts between Israel and Iran’s proxies.
